The Unloved Son (was Re: Could I be wrong about Snape being evil?)

[Neri]

No: HPFGUIDX 156810

 
> Sydney:
> 3.  Harry already knows about the life-debt.  Whatever Harry doesn't
> know about Snape, it has to be something shocking that will forge a
> connection between them, otherwise that whole relationship doesn't
> have anywhere to go.  I mean, how would it play as a scene?  "Well,
> Harry, it turns out that... Snape owed a life-debt to your father!" 
> "Yeah, I know.  I knew that six years ago".  "Yeah, but what you don't
> know ... is that he takes it really, really seriously!".  Um.  Yeah,
> great scene.  And before Neri comes in with the DeathRay!LifeDebt
> theory, that isn't a good scene either, in terms of what it does to
> Harry.  It would be a practical factor, not an emotional one, and the
> Snape/Harry dynamic is all about emotions.

Neri:
I have to clarify here that I never thought that Harry is going to
find out about Snape's life-debt from this or that explanation. It
would be indeed a waste of a good plot. I've always assumed that Harry
is going to find out right when Snape saves his life, probably by
stepping between him and Voldemort, and not one second before that.
There would be BANG and emotions aplenty. 

What happens after Snape saves Harry and finally repays his life debt
is completely open, but I'd hazard a speculation that Snape will find
himself in a situation where his ties with Voldemort are irrevocably
severed and he must throw his lot with Order or die – exactly the
situation he was trying to avoid throughout the whole series. At that
time all the cards will be laid on the table and Snape would have the
chance to explain his motivations and actions throughout the series
himself.

Harry's emotions would certainly be important but I suspect you
overestimate the importance of Snape's emotions. Like Dumbledore and
Sirius he is more a plot device than a main character. It is plot and
theme first that he was created to serve. 

Neri